Rose Issuesprune,

I got my first two roses last summer, and I am having an issue with each of them. Would be very grateful for any advice. The first is a red hybrid tea bush rose called Carris (Harmanna). I reckon it has rust, through searching on the RHS website, but I don't know whether I should be doing anything to treat it right now.

The second is a beautiful little lemon patio rose called Our Dream. It is flowering prolifically, but seems to be growing tall and straggly. I'm not sure whether I should be pruning off any of the buds or leaving it until the autumn.

Apologies for the wonky title - not sure how that happened!

 

Have you fed the rose in the ground at all Irmemac?

Leave each individual stem on the patio rose until they have finished blooming then you can prune them down, but not too harshly as they may well produce more flowers.

 

No, I haven't. Oops. Is there a specific rose food, or will general multipurpose feed do? Thanks also about the patio rose. I will do that. I have never had roses before, but both of these were given to me, and I am very keen to keep them. Thank you very much for your advice.

 

Feed your roses two to three times during the growing season whether in pots or in the ground. I feed just as they start to leaf up in Spring, then again mid to late May and finally late July. Feeding any later than that will interfere with a rose's natural slow down into autumn/winter. You can buy specific rose fertilisers but they tend to be expensive. Well rotted horse manure is the traditional feed usually used in Spring but failing that I use either chicken manure pellets or blood, fish and bone and water them in.

Don't forget roses need a fair amount of water to, so if there's no decent rain give them a good soaking when the soil is looking dry. They are best watered at the base as tap water can damage both leaves and flowers.

 

Thank you. Tomorrow morning I will try to make amends to my poor roses! I think I have some blood, fish and bone in the shed.